Jaguars bring back their pass-rush leader

By Associated Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars signed defensive end Tony Brackens to a one-year contract Tuesday, bringing back the team's leading career pass rusher and former second-round draft pick.

Brackens, who was released earlier this year for salary-cap reasons, is coming back from surgery on his right knee, albeit much less serious than the previous year, when his career almost ended with an injury to the other knee.

Last season, he came back from complicated "microfracture" surgery, a process in which doctors drill small holes in the knee to encourage the formation of scar tissue, which acts similarly to cartilage that has been damaged or removed.

He led the team with six sacks and brought his career total to 55 over eight seasons.

He tested the market when the Jaguars released him, but said if he couldn't go back to Texas, where he grew up, he wanted to land in Jacksonville.

"I had been here, was comfortable with the fan base, the coaching staff, and I didn't want to move my family," he said. "I'm not out to prove anything. I'm here to play as a team and win the Super Bowl."